RAWALPINDI, Sept 2: The National Accountability Bureau filed on Tuesday an application in the court of special judge central seeking to reopen three corruption references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and members of his family.

The petition filed by NAB prosecutor general Danishwar Malik in the court of Shaukat Ali Sajid in the absence of all the four judges of accountability courts sought review of an order passed by accountability court judge Khalid Mehmood last month about adjournment of the three references -- Hudaibia Paper Mills, Ittefaq Foundry and Raiwind assets -- for an indefinite period.

The court fixed September 4 for initial hearing.

The prosecutor general stated that the Aug 21 order of the accountability court was based on an observation that the earlier submission of the NAB for reopening the cases in August last year had not been signed by the bureau chairman.

He argued that the previous submission had been made by deputy prosecutor general as a competent authority and the point that it had not been signed by the NAB chairman was not relevant. He said the bureau wanted to reopen the proceedings against the accused.

The corruption references had been filed by NAB chairman on July 15, 2000.

In the Hudaibia Paper Mills reference, the accused are: Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, Hussain Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz, Haroon Pasha and Senator Ishaq Dar. They were charged with securing a huge amount as loan and later using it for other purposes, causing huge losses to the national exchequer.

In the Ittefaq Foundry reference, Nawaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, Mukhtar Hassan, Kamal Qureshi and a couple of other persons were accused of securing big loans and abusing them.

In the assets reference, the accused included Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, their late father Mian Sharif, mother Shamim Akhtar and other family members. They were charged with accumulating money and assets beyond their declared means of income.

AP adds: PML-N leader’s lawyer Khwaja Haris said that the move appeared “to be aimed at using the accountability courts against Nawaz Sharif”.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said that pursuing the cases smacked of “political bankruptcy”.

“Sometimes, if you cannot get things done politically, then you try to blackmail the opposition,” he told DawnNews TV.